Jimmy Howard, pulled during the second period of Wednesday's 6-3 loss to Vancouver, will start Friday against Nashville. The only change in the lineup, coach Mike Babcock said, will see Brett Lebda replace Jonathan Ericsson on defense.

"I thought Ericsson was fine last night,'' Babcock said. "Lebda's been a fine player and has played well with (Andreas) Lilja over the years and he's back in with Lilja.''

Brian Rafalski was given the day off but will play Friday.

Up front, Todd Bertuzzi was dropped to the third line. Here are the lines and defense pairings they skated with in practice: